Brunnhoelzl Takes Early WSMT Points Lead with Second-Place Finish at SoBo

GBIII Shows Early-Season Strength in the Mod World

A few short weeks ago, George Brunnhoelzl, III was the star of the show at Concord Speedway (NC) for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour season opener.  Even though he didn't win the race, GBIII started last on the field, storming all the way up to second before settling for third.

This past weekend, Brunnhoelzl was once again the talk of the series as he set fast time during qualifying at South Boston Speedway (VA), led many laps and finished second, taking over the points lead in the series.

Brunnhoelzl's solid race day started in practice and qualifying, where he snagged the pole.

"Practice went real well," said Brunnhoelzl.  "We unloaded and were actually pretty quick right off of the truck.  We fine-tuned it a little and ended up first in the first practice and second in the second practice, so we were real happy.  During qualifying we had a really good lap and ended up on the pole."

Starting sixth after the invert, Brunnhoelzl raced up to the lead before falling back to a respectable second at the checkered flag.

"We started going up to the front and got the lead, but towards the end of the race we got a little too free.  We ran real well and everything was going pretty good.  Altogether it was a pretty good weekend. We learned what we need to do so that next time we don’t slip back to second."

GBIII has emerged as an early-season contender for the 2009 WSMT title. (51 Sports photo)

Finishing third and second in the first two events of 2009 has put Brunnhoelzl in the points lead, something he isn't putting much weight on at this point in the season.

"This has been the best start to a season that I have had," said Brunnhoelzl.  "It’s definitely too early to look at points.  I don’t even concern myself with points until the last few races.  Points are great, but we are still going to every race to win and wherever the points fall, they fall."

Next up for Brunnhoelzl is the double-header weekend for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour.  First up is the Friday night action at Ace Speedway (NC) on April 10th, followed by the April 11th Saturday show at Caraway Speedway (NC).